Baltimore’s Bizarre Attractions

The world has turned, and today the word “free” seems ultimately suspicious, but free is exactly The Book Thing’s MO. Stop by the 7,000 square foot book shop on a Saturday or Sunday, when volunteers open the shop and can help guide you to the best of the books, all gratis and made available by donations.

A quick jaunt outside Baltimore, the suburb of Wheaton offers a hidden bit of bizarre inside its metro station. Measuring up as the longest moving staircase in the Western Hemisphere, the Wheaton Station Escalator gives a touch of vertigo with its inching ascent from the deep bowels of the station. Ride the escalator’s 230-foot length, and be sure to look down!

The National Museum of Dentistry makes a delightfully offbeat stop on the road to uncovering the weird side of Baltimore. George Washington’s ivory dentures sit on exhibit, the crowning glory of displays detailing the history of the dental sciences, including a range of toothbrushes covering the years from 1800 to the present.